Almost Famous, Part 2 (or, Fangirling and Videobombing)

Hello, friends! Last week I gave you a glimpse into the surreal and slightly out-of-body experience I had being in Stars Hollow and in Central Perk and promised to share another awesome—yet much more embarrassing and horrifying—moment from our time in Hollywood. I also promised to show you a photo we took with an actual American Idol winner, thanks to my lack of any kind of humiliation when it comes to celebrities.

Long story short? We saw him trying to get into The Dolby Theatre for Idol finale rehearsal, but the doors were locked (“Baby lock them doors and turn the lights down low..”). So naturally, I walked right up to him.
“Scotty McCreery! We’re big fans,” I semi-lied, “We totally voted for you!” (That wasn’t a lie, we did vote for him, but I was more of a Lauren Alaina fan and TBH, haven’t given either of them a thought in five years.)
My family was mortified, but even more so when I asked for a picture (the fact that I already had my phone in selfie position regardless of his answer only added to their embarrassment*).
His dad graciously offered to take the pic (#McCreeryFamilyMVP) and there ya have it.
Not a huge A-lister moment, but after he was gone you’d have thought the three of us had just run into Kelly freaking Clarkson the way we were giggling and, yes, even high-fiving.
We’re dorks and easily impressed and WE’RE NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT IT.

*They apologized later when I made them admit that they appreciated my stalkerish bold behavior.

BTW, here I am standing right next to the American Idol stage in The Dolby Theatre the very morning after the finale.

I look like I’m semi-calm, but in reality I wanted to throw myself onto Harry Connick, Jr.’s spot and, I don’t know, lick it or something

They were tearing the stage down, but it was awesome to see up close, not to mention imagining all the stars who’ve been on that stage presenting and accepting Oscars. I won’t lie; it was almost was too much for me to bear.

But let’s be honest, you didn’t really come here today for a story about a B-lister American Idol winner or a torn up stage, did you?
You came for the story where I was caught fangirling on camera on a syndicated talk show without realizing it, much to my embarrassment—yet later, to my great, great pleasure at the hilarity of the situation.

Surprisingly, one of the most exciting things about our hotel in Hollywood (The W) wasn’t the fact that it was smack-dab on the corner of the famous Hollywood & Vine; that it was a mere block from the famous Capitol Records Building; that Ellen DeGeneres’, Jennifer Aniston’s, and Reese Witherspoon’s stars were right outside the door; or that you could see the Hollywood sign from the sidewalk.

It was that there was a Dunkin’ Donuts right across the street.

Trust me, when you live in a place where you can’t munch on Munchkin’s 24/7, the sight of a Dunkin’ Donuts is like seeing the messiah himself offering you a chocolate glazed.

On our last morning in Hollywood our plan was to go grab some donuts quickly before going back to our room to shower and get ready to check out—i.e., not put on makeup or brush our hair.
And certainly not BE ON NATIONAL T.V.

As we were walking back, my husband noticed they were filming a TV show inside the building our hotel was in. It was one of those Today Show set-ups where there are big windows behind the hosts and the guests. I, naturally, semi freaked out to bear witness to AN ACTUAL FILMING, especially when I immediately recognized the spiky hair of Dalton Rappatoni, the second runner up in this season of American Idol. (Since the finale was the previous night, Hollywood was still buzzing with AI stories.)
THE SECOND RUNNER UP.
Not the winner.
Not even the first runner up.
THE SECOND RUNNER UP.
You guys, you’d have thought it was Carrie Underwood being interviewed in there the way I ran to the window.
Or Scotty McCreery.

When I discovered that the host of Hollywood Today Live was Ross Matthews—a delightfully happy man whom I adore on the E! Network because he gets every bit as excited about celebrities as I do—I almost spit out a sacred sip of my DD coffee.

And so began my downfall.

Fangirling out and OBVIOUSLY needing about 85 shots from different angles of DALTON RAPPATONI (a person I really liked—even voted for!—but have already sort of forgotten about, two weeks later), and ROSS MATTHEWS (okay, nevermind, Ross Matthews is all kinds of awesome and I won’t apologize for thinking it), I bounced around the windows snapping photos on my phone while my husband and very bored and impatient 14yo trailed me…NEVER REALIZING I WAS ON CAMERA.

Take a moment to let that sink in.

And then refer to above photo to remember how I looked.

Here’s the whole, sad story in screenshots taken from the actual YouTube video of the segment that aired, and don’t worry, the link to the actual video will follow.

Starting at :58, I run—RUN—over to the window, phone out and ready to start snapping. SUCK IT, TMZ. WHERE ARE YOU? HUH?

A much, much less enthusiastic and impressed Thing 2 and husband meander at a snail’s pace after me. They don’t care. They just want to eat their god-damned donuts.

Please note husband juggling jumbo box of Munchkin’s, another bag of donuts, and his coffee. In about 15 seconds he’ll also be holding my coffee BECAUSE I NEEDED ALL MY HANDS FOR VERY IMPORTANT PHOTO TAKING OF VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE.

Realizing if I pop over to the other window I can get photos of Dalton’s face, HIS FACE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I dash over to the window behind Ross. 2:25 – Husband slowly wanders over, not even bothering to glance inside. Sometimes I don’t know how I married him.

2:42 – Me explaining and gesturing with excitement. I’m guessing I was giving my family detailed descriptions of all the amazing photos I’d taken and imagining my future as a paparazzi.

Checking phone to make sure I have a few clear and focused pictures of the almost-American Idol. Or 50. Thing 2 is so done and for the love of all things holy, just wants her donuts.

3:39 – MUST HAVE BETTER ANGLE OF ROSS MATTHEWS, so I dash back to the other window. Husband wondering how long it takes for the glaze on a donut to congeal.

3:48 – Back to the original window, mouth agape, apparently out of my mind with excitement about the photo of Ross Matthews I just snapped. By the way, have you noticed that there are literally NO OTHER PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THIS TAPING GOING ON?

MUST. GET. MORE. PHOTOS.

3:55 – Still waiting for his damn donut.

About this time Dalton’s interview was over and I saw on the teleprompter that Joey Lawrence was coming up next.WHOA!
You guys, Joey Lawrence and I go way back to that time my tweet made Kris Jenner’s talk show and Joey Lawrence sat there while she read it. And chuckled.

So naturally, I kept my post at the window—THE WINDOW I STILL DID NOT REALIZE YOU COULD SEE ME THROUGH—and the whole thing started all over again.

Running to get a better view of Joey from the other window. I think the producers switched the position of the host and guests to confuse me and make me step the hell away from the windows.

About two minutes into Joey’s interview, my husband wandered around the corner where he could see the live feed…AND ME.“Michelle, you realize you’ve been on camera this entire time, don’t you?” he asked.
You guys, I dropped to that dirty Hollywood Blvd. sidewalk like I’d been shot, dried mystery fluids be damned.
Practically crab-walking around the corner, we all immediately ran away into the hotel and ate our feelings of mortification in Munchkins.
Thing 2 was beside herself with agony.
Especially after I Googled and discovered that Hollywood Today Live is syndicated in practically all the major cities in the United States.

Here’s the whole four minute clip.
I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as we did when we first saw it. Two weeks later and I swear my stomach muscles are still sore from the hysterical laughter.

And as for all of those VERY IMPORTANT PHOTOS?
I’ve whittled them down to three, which I think may be three too many.

Share this:

Lisa -This is hilarious, because I actually saw this live! I have a 3.5yr old and Never, ever watch daytime t.v. It’s been solidly cartoons at this house for a long time. I spend too much time reading mommy blogs 😉 Somehow I had a moment the other day and watched this show for the first time and only for Ross, cause I have no idea about the AI kid. Anyway, I saw you take the pic of the AI kid!! I just thought they were filming in NYC and you were a super excited fan. I watched the interview with Joey too but did not notice you again (check my google searches for that time and date and it would say: what happened to Joey Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence, Andy Lawrence?) That is a lot of rambling, sorry! Love your blog and glad you had some great vacations!ReplyCancel

Michelle -SHUT. UP. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? That is hilarious and so bizarre!!! Somehow I feel even MORE famous. (Or infamous?!?) And as for being a “super excited fan”? Um, yeah. 😛 I cannot tell you how hysterical my daughter and I were when we finally got to see it (we weren’t near a TV when it aired in CA so we had to wait for the YouTube clip to be posted later that night). I could not breathe and the tears were coursing down my face. Thank you for letting me know…and thank you so much for reading!! 🙂ReplyCancel

Snarkfest-You’ve given me a huge smile on this dreary day. Thanks for never taking yourself seriously and providing us with laughter, Michelle. I love this. And I watched the video twice because I loved it so much!ReplyCancel

Michelle -Always happy to entertain with my dorkiness. Glad you enjoyed the video. I hadn’t watched it since that day and when I was watching it to take those screenshots yesterday I was howling. It will never not be funny to me. #facepalm xoxoReplyCancel

Melinda Tillotson -This is hysterical. Ohmygoodness, I laughed so hard. (all by myself in the basement where the computer is…) Thanks for the laugh!!!!!ReplyCancel